Meet Karen Steele | Made of Steele PR

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karen Steele and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karen, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My multi cultural family members exposed me to a wide world of people and experiences early in life. Abuelo, my grandfather, set the foundation for my success. My American father worked at NASA, so he was an early tech guy.
At the age of 14, I a saw a documentary on a career in public relations. My mother was fluent in three languages French, English and Spanish and spoke a bit of Italian. While in college, I thought about being a foreign correspondent. At the time, I worked at a major network . For a few more years, I continued
building the path to my own business by working in TV followed by a brief period in radio.
My grandfather ran a bottling company in Mexico so I was around “suits” as a toddler. Once I escaped the house and walked to his office. At five years old, I sat in on a business meeting until someone drove over to pick me up.
We moved to Houston, and my sister and I would visit Dad at work, like other NASA kids. My sister and I used to play “hide and seek” in the computer room at NASA. Some of the engineers on my father’s team used the computer to draw dogs for me during a break. There were long hours and even days on missions, so the wives and kids were regular visitors. Being around d engineers is good life training.
My mother was my biggest champion. Early in my career, I met Jerry Vann who recommended me for a great job at a large publication. After I got the job, Jerry told me with my media experience I could successfully open my own firm. Throughout the years, Jerry has been one of my mentors.

What should our readers know about your business?
My firm, Made of Steele has worked with CEOs, celebrities, up and coming actors, shows, world class physicians. exhibitions and growing businesses.
Having worked in news, I find that all my clients are interesting. Being interesting is what makes people want to come to your business, show or clinic.
I treat their businesses with the dedication and devotion that I give mine.
This work ethos, I learned from my grandfather. He treated everyone with respect.
My grandfather was the first business person I knew.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Houston has so many things to see and visit. There are places that have hidden art or beautiful architecture. After a westward drive down Memorial, I recommend seeing Our Lady of Walsingham. It truly looks like you walked on the set of Father Brown.
99 Ranch is nearby on 1 10 has several Asian restaurants and sells hard to find produce.
Although it was my father’s work place, a day in Clear Lake touring Johnson Space center is worth the time . It was and still continues to be historic in achievement,from the Moon to Mars! My father worked at JSC during the successful missions to the moon, The International Space Station and Soyuz.
Someone asked me for a visitors list and I suggested going by Murder by The Book a bookstore dedicated to mystery. If you want to spend hours being an Anglophile, go a few blocks down towards Rice Village to British Isles. From the top rack to the bottom rack, all goods are UK brands. The owner Guy Streatfield will delight you with his British accent.
The Menil Collection is an obligatory stop, it is visually beautiful inside and outside.
Outside of Bellaire, there is a tortilla factory. My friends from up North love the smell of fresh hot corn tortillas right off the press.
City Center on the West side is always fun,
You can’t visit Houston without driving out to the country.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Anyone who is in business has someone helping them. I credit my mother who always had sound advice.
Ron Stein has been a good advisor. He is a classic car collector and runs a real estate company in which I office.
In matters of entertainment or negotiation, Jerry Vann has given me solid advice.
My friends in media are my partners, I could not function without them. There is a long list of people who help you be productive but a few are at the top of the list. Ruben Dominguez, Wendy Granato, Justin Sternberg, Melissa Wilson, Debra Duncan, Mike Hubbard and Jeff Ehling are great journalists and are walking media encyclopedias.
Before my father passed away, there was an annual Steele Red Carpet Party which promoted up and coming working Hollywood actors that were from Texas. Dustin Price, Wes Brown and Alan Duhon helped produce some of the events. We had actors from Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, movies and cable shows. The Lundquist twins, Tama and Tena. always showed up and helped so much with the red carpet parties. Putting an actors event like that every year is a big undertaking.

Twitter: @lawomanofsteele